Pharrell Talks About Trying To Compete With Jay Z

Pharrell Williams is a superstar producer, multiple Grammy winner, Academy Award nominee, and the creator of the number one song in the country. Despite all these accomplishments, the Virginia native still feels he is not in the same league as frequent collaborator Jay Z.

In a recent interview with The Guardian, Skateboard P admits that his debut solo album In My Mind is his least favorite work. Pharrell says it is because he didn’t know who he was, and he was just trying to compete with other artists.

“I thought I knew who I was… This competitive guy in the music industry, who admired my peers and felt he needed to compete with the races that they designed,” said Pharrell. “It was in my mind, but not in my heart. It was this caricature that I’d built in my mind, that fitted in with what Snoop and Jay were doing. Some of the things I said on that record, all the bragging, it’s not necessary. It doesn’t say anything about you, apart from how shallow you are.”

Pharrell goes on to point out that despite hoping to compete with Jay at the time, he came to the conclusion that it was not a going to happen. According to the G I R L performer, Jay’s run in the music business and lyrical talent puts him on another level.

“Jay was never going to race with any of us. That was just my delusion,” added Pharrell. “Because his career runs laps round people. And he runs laps round people, lyrically. He’s a philosopher and a poet.”